Samael is a band known for experimenting and diversifying their music. They have done this throughout the years. Now, their latest album, Lux Mundi, takes the fans back to the band's roots, to the "Passage" era. What will come next?
During the 70000 tons of metal 2012, SOM had the pleasure to talk to the keyboardist and drummer Xy and ask him a few questions...Check it out!

First of all… how does it feel to be here, at 70000 tons of metal?Good! Really good! It is quite an experience, really interesting and different. It has a good vibe, everybody seems pretty relaxed. And [it is] more civilized than I would have expected in a way, you know? Everybody is behaving and partying at the same time so it’s cool.

How was the concert yesterday (January 23rd, first cruise day)?
Pretty good. The technical side of it was a little bit stressful because it was the first day [of the cruise]. But yeah… we enjoyed it, we had a good time. Today we received pretty good feedback, people enjoyed it and that’s what matters.

Is this your first concert on a cruise? Or even… first cruise ever?Yes… first ever.

So… do you like it?Yeah, it’s kind of interesting. I think that for the people [public], [it] must be quite different than it is for us. A proper [non metal] cruise… I don’t know. I don’t think it would really be for me… too relaxing in a way.

So, you have released Lux Mundi almost a year ago… Did the album bring you everything you were expecting it to bring?Well, yeah. We are happy with the album, I mean, we wanted to make it… not back to the roots but, really try to integrate some more stuff that we used to work with during the Passage era. Not trying to copy an album, but more “getting the vibe” for that era, in a way, you know? I think we succeeded pretty well. We are playing a few songs live and it really ma

tches with the older stuff, but still represents what we are doing now.

So, has the feedback from fans and media been mostly positive?Yeah, it has been positive but, we kind of feel that we need to tour more, to present the album and also reconnect with some people. It’s a bit challenging sometimes but… you know… we had a history where we’ve been experimenting things and trying different stuff. Maybe sometimes people get a little bit “lost”. It’s been confusing, a little, so we are kind of more focused now.

Correct me if I’m wrong or if you disagree: It seems that the band went to a path and with Above you went all the way back to your roots and now with Lux Mundi, you are re-tracing your “path” in music, going somewhere else. Do you agree?Maybe, as I said… we are re-focusing in a way. Going somewhere else? Probably; we always had the need to experiment things. But we will reach the point again where we are going to feel like trying to break barriers a little and you know… try something different. But we [are] always going to stay with Samael’s own identity.

So, do you know what the fans can expect for the next album?Not really. We have a few songs already, few ideas and we have been working on that. But, you know, still trying things, really trying to catch something.It’s like you do songs… and you need to do more, and try to let yourself go somewhere, until the moment you feel that you are getting there. It’s still a little bit confusing… so, we’ll see (laughs).

Several black or gothic me

tal bands end up expeimenting with industrial elements. Why is that? Why is there such a “thin line” between these styles?I don’t really know. I’ve never really considered Samael as a “proper” black metal band. We’ve been labeled like that and I don’t mind but I think we are a bit different.The way I would see this “black metal label” is a little bit close [restricted]. If you want to do it, you have to stay in that range. I don’t know… mixing industrial elements… we did that, we might do that a little bit more in the future. I think it kind of fits. So… yeah, we shall see (laughs).

Some reviewers stated that Lux Mundi feels like the new Passage. Do you agree?Yeah, I kind of agree in a way. As I said, we didn’t want to copy it [Passage]. Passage was a good moment for the band but I don’t think it would work if we wanted to do it again. It is more, as I said, a “vibe”.

What are the plans for Samael in 2012?We will definitely try to tour more, always. We will try to work on the songs that we have started already. I don’t know if we will be able to do a new album this year but we also have the idea to do some recording, it is not sure yet. That is something that we have in mind.

Any plans to come to the US soon?We don’t have something steady but we really want to come back. So we are going to try hard this year, check options… so, I think we will do it, we will make it happen.

Any last words for the SOM readers?Hi to everybody! And… Keep metal alive!